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 Science Curriculum??? (currently 1,311 views) |
| vicki |
| Posted on: November 30th, 2004, 11:48pm |
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I'm looking for a science curriculum for next year-- which would be first grade for us.... I've heard of curriculums that send you everything you need for the year for science projects, etc.... I've lost contact with the person that told me about a particular curriculum and I can't remember the name and haven't found it on my own... My neighbor told me about http://www.homeschoolscience.com/index.html but that isn't it. I'm not sure I like the idea of picking a particular topic and studying it in-depth. Looking for a more broad approach like I saw before.......
Does anyone have a science curriculum that they really like? Or just know of science curriculums that send everything you need (including the sugar cube is how the mom worded it to me!) that you could tell me about?
Thanks a bunch! |
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| Admin |
| Posted on: December 1st, 2004, 2:18am |
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Posts: 1,794
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| Vicki, I just ordered some science books from the same people who do Singapore Math, which we love. When I get it, you can take a look and see what you think of it. Singapore students at all levels regularly test in the top 1-2 countries in the world in math and science. More info about the science at http://www.sgbox.com/singaporescience.html. |
Elizabeth
Mom to Eric (8 ) and Ruby (4.5) |
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| Futurekids |
| Posted on: December 1st, 2004, 3:18am |
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Hi Elizabeth,
I'd also love to look at them. I briefly looked at the website and I'm impressed - sounds like a great program. Could I take a look at your singapore math books sometime too?
Thanks!
Sharon |
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| vicki |
| Posted on: December 1st, 2004, 3:55am |
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I've heard good things about Singapore Math and Science.. I'd love to take a look.. Did you order the Science Primary 3 package?
And yes, I'd like to look at the Math too.... What I have now is not working and I'll be switching in the fall and wouldn't mind just dropping it altogether and getting something more advanced now if it wasn't expensive. Matthew is so far above the K
Abeka curriculum I am using.. He seems to be the "typical" male and is excelling in Math and I suspect he will in Science too... I want to keep him challenged and interested.... Yesterday at bedtime he says Mom, 20 x 3 is 60! He's been dabbling in mulitplication ever since I explained it to him (he loves x1 and x0).. Tonight at bedtime he counted to 1000 by 50's! And he just recently counted all the way to 1000 by ones... It was excruitiating for me  but he was so proud of himself! He's been counting by 5's, 10's and is working on 2's..... He's also very interested in doubling numbers... 2+2=4, 4+4=8, etc... He can write the numbers up to 1000 too.... Scott really is wanting to work with him in the math department (I'm slow on the math skills) and I would also like to encourage he's involvement...... Does your curriculum work on these type of skills? Or anyone else know of something?
thanks! |
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| ashemax |
| Posted on: December 1st, 2004, 4:01pm |
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Vicki,
We've been using Saxon 1 and liked it until we got to the higher doubles...
6+6, 7+7...etc.
Emily found it difficult so now she's turned off by math. Saxon is also
very repetitive, so it isn't much "fun". I like the structure of it but she doesn't,
so I think I'm in the market for something else. I looked at Elizabeth's
Singapore and it is very colorful and looks much more fun. My sister does
Miquon with her 8 yr. old and has great success with it (with Miquon the kids
are "taught" to think "out of the box" and learn the concepts, not just the
memorization so much). Both Miquon and Singapore are VERY affordable.
Saxon is expensive.
I'd be glad to share my Saxon. I'm afraid I'm at a loss as to
what to do with Emily and motivation. For now, I've just chosen to back off.
I'm thinking in the unschooling mindset....if she wants to do it we will but I'm
not pushing it. Same thing for reading...she's not advancing at this point, but
is at least stable. I think I'm going to go the games/computer game route so
I don't feel like we are doing nothing.
As for the science, Sonlight has a complete science curriculum. I think the first grade package is around $75-80 but you get the sugar cubes and the twine and all that. It was at the top of my list when I was considering buying one. Since we are at this lull in our other subjects, I may consider getting this again sometime soon. Emily LOVES
science experiments. She is very hands-on with everything she enjoys. My challenge
is how to make every subject "fun" like science experiments are. Any suggestions
anyone??
Since I'm not back at home yet, I don't have the Sonlight web address, but I think it is something standard like sonlight.com.
I think is is absolutely fantastic that Matthew has "figured" out how counting works. He is definitely advanced in that area (Elizabeth can relate!). I too am not that math savvy. Another possibility for him is the Math-U-See program. It is a video program and one of our members, Andrea Bass, uses it. She's had success with it. You can get a free demo video from them if you want, or you can just borrow mine. I found it confusing to follow, but that may just be me and my lack of math skills. Andrea's kids seem to enjoy it.
I wrote a book! Oh well...see everyone soon...is is real WET and HOT here in Alabama.
Amy |
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| hovlex |
| Posted on: December 1st, 2004, 4:27pm |
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| Elizabeth, I would love to see your math and science books, too! We have been very slowly dipping our toes into general workbooks that I've gotten around town, as Hovey get VERY easily overwhelmed. But I think that he may be ready for something more. Do you get the whole curriculum sets, or the smaller packages, or the individual workbooks? |
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| Admin |
| Posted on: December 2nd, 2004, 5:29am |
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Posts: 1,794
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OK, sorry it took me a while to get back to you guys on this. Like Amy, I may write a book here...
I'd be more than willing to share the books with you. The science books should arrive soon. I already have several math ones: K2 (they have 2 years of kindergarten, this is the second year), 1A & B (1st and 2nd half of first grade), 2A (first half of second grade), also 5AB and 6AB. The complete sets include textbook, workbook, and teacher guide. I don't have the complete set for each year, but do have examples of each.
Eric has been INTENSELY interested in numbers from very early on. I think I mentioned to some of you that when he was barely two, he once counted up to 99 and then backwards from 99 down to one, and I'm sure he could have counted much higher if he'd wanted to!! Skip counting (by 2's, 3's, etc. all the way up to 16's) he enjoyed also at age 2. Powers of 2 and 10 at age 3, and so on. So... we looked at the Singapore K, 1, and 2 levels several years ago. He couldn't write much at all yet, but enjoyed working on the problems aloud. Now he is whizzing along on 5A, though still has problems writing small enough for the blanks in the workbook.
Vicki, since Matthew is advanced, I have some advice that I learned by trial and error (mostly error) with Eric. Find the highest level book that he can handle, even if that means missing some of the more basic stuff in earlier levels. Then back up occasionally to fill in the blanks on lower level things he might have missed, as the topics come up. This keeps him challenged, instead of getting bored with too much "busy work". I got stuck in trying to fill in the check boxes instead of going with his interests, and it was a mistake. For example, if he isn't into fractions, just skip them and come back later. Also, Vicki, I have many, many number-oriented kids books that you are welcome to borrow for Matthew.
One of the things that has been both praised and criticized about Singapore math is the de-emphasis on drill (repetition) and lack of spiraling (returning to the same topic for review over and over again periodically). Personally, I like this. I think drill can make you hate math, although I do agree that, at some point, you need to be comfortable with the math facts (times tables, add'n tables, etc.). As a homeschooler, it's been easy for me to throw in an occasional problem from the "old days" and see if he remembers it. If not, we go back briefly and cover that again. If additional drill is needed, it wouldn't be difficult to make up the problems yourself -- it isn't rocket science! But there are also resources on the web, such as the free downloadable program from http://www.worksheetfactory.com. I have also heard of people supplementing with cuisenaire rods (which we have and love, and I can also show you those), and Math-U-See videos (which I don't have but would be interested in looking at).
One of the other things I like about the Singapore math is that it gets you touse the math topic that's been introduced to solve problems right away without huge amounts of meaningless drill first. So, lots of "story problems." Or, to give another example, we're currently learning about how to round numbers. After just a few examples, they immediately progress to having you estimate (by rounding) how much is, say, 78 times 42 (80x40=3200), or about how many times 32 goes into 119 (30 into 120 is 4). This is such a practical application, because it helps you have a general idea of what kind of ballpark answer you're looking for when you practice doing the problems with the real, rather than rounded, numbers. Well, I'll stop with the examples. Not hard to figure out where Eric got it from...
I don't know much about the Singapore science yet, but I understand it's more concept based (change, adaption, etc.) than subject based (plants, astronomy, light). Science in Singapore starts at 3rd grade, but I've been told by many people that for the motivated child, starting them at the 3rd grade level in K-1 is doable. I figure if it doesn't work this year, I'll put it aside for a year or two. I'm not sure when the "labs" start, but when they do, I'm looking into buying supplies from http://www.hometrainingtools.com.
The response on this thread got me thinking of something I have been considering off and on: Would any of you be interested in doing a curriculum share together -- by which I mean we all bring the curricula (textbooks, workbooks, software, videos, anything else) we have and let everyone else take a gander at them? Not to sell or swap it necessarily, just to look. It would be so helpful to me to get an idea of what others are using, thinking of using, definitely not using, or whatever. I'll post more about this on the co-op discussion board and see if there's interest, maybe after the holidays... |
Elizabeth
Mom to Eric (8 ) and Ruby (4.5) |
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Reply: 6 - 10 |
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| vicki |
| Posted on: December 3rd, 2004, 1:40am |
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| That's funny that you mentioned the basic stuff... I was wondering if I could skip over certain things and go back later without too much confusion on his part, I guess so... I'm amazed that Eric was interested in math at such an early age! I printed off a multiplication table today and Matthew was beside himself he was so happy! After he'd spent an hour with it, he came running over to me and gave me a hug and said I'd given him the best thing ever!!! It was so sweet! He studied it for a couple of hours and then started X'ing off as he went.... I hope that doesn't mean that he knows them all already! I find the whole thing odd cause I'm just not interested in math, at all! But Elizabeth I would love to look at all that you've got and borrow the books and we'll have to chat about this sometime in person... And I think a curriculum MNO would be fun and informative! |
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| Bridget |
| Posted on: December 8th, 2004, 12:32am |
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Vicki,
I just recently ran into an add for Science Kits. I saw the add in the magazine,
" Homeschooling Parent" .
I was interested in it. I am planning on looking in to it.
Due to me NOT actually looking at it, I am not sure that it is what you would be interested in.
Just in case, the web site is
http://www.treasureboxpress.com
Phone # is 1-877-461-9040
Elizabeth, I think a Curriculum MNO is an outstanding idea. That way we could actually look at the stuff with out the kids distracting us. I will talk to Kari and the other girls about it. |
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| Admin |
| Posted on: December 8th, 2004, 1:10am |
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Posts: 1,794
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| Hi Bridget.. I spoke briefly to Kari about a curriculum MNO at the grandpals wrapping party, but she didn't remember offhand who was in charge of the January MNO. We could do it then, if the hostess wants to, or we could plan it for later in the year. |
Elizabeth
Mom to Eric (8 ) and Ruby (4.5) |
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| Shannon_D |
| Posted on: December 8th, 2004, 3:42pm |
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Hi there!
I will host a Jan. curriculum night either at my house or another close location. I will post on our members board later with the details. Several moms have mentioned that they would like this seperate from MNO ( they want a break from it all and I can't blame them).
Shannnon |
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